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ECE

29 Nov 2024

Music, magic, mana reo: Waiata in early childhood centres

Educators across the motu are building brains through music. It’s unseen and often undervalued work, but that mahi is helping tamariki thrive right across the curriculum. AKO spoke to kaiako who love using music to build communication, wellbeing and impulse control in tamariki.

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1 Nov 2024

Enhancing the mana: cultural leadership in Taranaki

Last year, NZEI Te Riu Roa won an allowance for existing teachers who hold cultural knowledge and expertise to recognise the work they are already doing in kura, schools and kindergartens. It came into effect this year and the applications for the funding were overwhelming.

Ngāmotu-based writer Emma Hislop (Kāi Tahu) sat down with a few of the kaiako who received the Cultural Leadership Allowance in Taranaki, to find out about their roles – and what receiving the funding meant to them.

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6 Aug 2024

Diary of a head teacher sabbatical 

Last year, NZEI Te Riu Roa kindergarten members won a new addition in their collective agreement: ten-week-long paid sabbaticals for up to 20 head teachers each year. We are honoured to share excerpts from a generous and insightful diary written during one of the first sabbaticals earlier this year, thanks to Shelley Shennan, the head teacher of Parihaka Kindergarten in Whangārei.

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“We were refugees” Displaced by the cyclone

While many schools and centres were damaged by Cyclone Gabrielle, a few were forced into long-term closure with staff and children having to re-establish elsewhere. Ako talked to kaiako from three different institutions that found new premises, or were taken in by a neighbouring school or centre.

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Spring 202214 Sep 2022

Teachers of the future

Initial teacher education plays a crucial role in our education system. But is it up to scratch? Ako talks to education professionals who are reimagining how we grow new teachers.

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Spring 202214 Sep 2022

Pandemic innovations

COVID-19 forced schools and early childhood centres to rethink the way they delivered learning. Ako talks to educators who have found the silver linings and are looking to the future.

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Covid-19 20203 Apr 2020

Q&A with Jacinta McInerney of Karanga Mai Early Learning Centre

Karanga Mai Early Learning Centre in Kaiapoi, north of Christchurch, is located on the grounds of Kaiapoi High School. A suspected case at the high school meant they had to go into lockdown two days before the rest of the country. Tumuaki of the centre, Jacinta McInerney, talks to Sara Shirazi about how they’re supporting the specific needs of their community.

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Rongomai School
Winter 201925 Jul 2019

People power

School principals from around the country explain how strong communities of staff bring crucial benefits for children and whānau, from South Auckland to Southland.

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Owhiro Bay School
Winter 201925 Jul 2019

Building bridges: from community to ECE to primary

The importance of whānau and community doesn’t lessen just because a child starts school, but it can be hard for educators to maintain these strong connections once a child leaves early childhood education. Jane Blaikie and Jane Arthur talk to educators across the country about the challenges they face when trying to build bridges between the child and their community.

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